The Locket
by freakyanimegal
Summary: oneshotoyako. Lloyd sighed as he faced his friends. "Guys, I have a confession to make...Kratos dropped something when we were going after Forcystus..." He shuffled in his pocket and pulled out the locket...


**Well, I wanted to write something, but couldn't write anything, so this happened...o.O' Apparently my laptop was sending me **

**subconscious calls for oyako again...**

**NOTE: I am referencing a extra-load chapter from the ToS manga, but don't worry, I'm not just stealing it XD**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**The Locket**

Sometime after the water seal, the group found themselves in battle with a group of giant insects. Lloyd had been doing well, until he let his

guard down at the most inopportune moment. Genis shouted his friend's name as the grasshopper swiped for Lloyd, the teen's eyes going

wide in horror before he found himself pushed from harm's way by Kratos, who took a shallow cut from the blades which ripped down the collar

of his shirt and through the chain he had hidden underneath. The mercenary quickly dispatched the monster and turned to look at Lloyd, who

stared up at him, a mixed between embarrassed and relieved.

"Be careful," Kratos said to him.

"R- Right, I'm sorry, Kratos..." the boy said.

Kratos closed his eyes and sheathed his sword before starting to walk off to where the others were to check on their wounds. Lloyd got to his

feet before he noticed an oval object that had fallen to the ground when Kratos took the hit for him.

"Huh-? Hey, Kratos! You dropped something!" he said.

The Seraph stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened as he realized his locket was gone. Lloyd picked the object up off the ground,

looking at it in curiosity. A locket? Why would someone like Kratos have a locket? What was inside....? The boy went to open it when it was

snatched from his hands by Kratos, who glared death at the teen.

"You didn't look inside, did you?" he hissed darkly.

"N- No! I didn't-! I'm sor-!"

"That's good then," Kratos said, turning on heel and walking off.

"...Huh?!" Lloyd shouted. "H- Hey! Wait a minute-!"

The man ignored him, which led to the teen to brew in his frustration. Later that night he decided he had better go and apologize to the man

only to find the stoic male staring sadly at the locket in his hand a ways away from the camp site, seated on a fallen log.

"...Kratos...um...I..." Lloyd trailed, "I'm sorry, about before..."

Kratos looked at him and then nodded.

"It's all right," he said, "you didn't look inside, so..."

"Is it...something important?" Lloyd asked.

There was a long silence before Kratos spoke up.

"It was my wife's."

Lloyd gaped in a mixture between shock and horror. WIFE!? Kratos, THE Kratos, had a WIFE?!

"What's with that look?" Kratos asked coldly.

"N- Nothing, so...did you have kids too...?" he asked, trying to get over the shock.

"...A son," the Seraph said, looking away.

He really had a family?! That was-! ..Wait...

"What...happened to them?" Lloyd asked.

Kratos looked at him before looking away and back at the locket, his bangs obscuring his eyes.

"...They were killed," he whispered, "by the Desians..."

Lloyd fell silent, his mouth agape somewhat as he stared at the man.

"...Sometimes I wonder..." Kratos continued, talking more to himself than Lloyd as he laced his fingers together and rested his chin atop of it,

"those two...are they happy? I tried...I had given up everything I had of myself to be with them, to protect them, I swore on my life I would and

yet...now I'm the only one left alive."

"...Kratos-" Lloyd started.

"I'm sorry, that must have been an awkward thing for you to hear," he said as he got to his feet, "let's head back to camp and get some rest.

You wanted me to train you some in the morning, correct?"

Lloyd could only bring himself to watch as the man walked away. The next morning they did train a bit before leaving, as Kratos had said, but

before the mercenary went to leave Lloyd finally found the words that had alluded him the previous night.

"Hey...I think they should be happy," Lloyd said.

Kratos stopped and turn to look at the teenager, his eyes widen somewhat.

"...Lloyd?" he asked.

"Your wife and kid, I mean," Lloyd said, "because even now they've got this great guy thinking about them, feeling bad for them, and loving

them... I don't know if my real dad is still alive or not..."

He grinned, oblivious to the massive irony he was spouting.

"But if he thought about me like that, I'd really be happy!"

Kratos choked a second before something startling happened.

He smiled.

"Yeah..." he said, looking softly at Lloyd.

Lloyd however, could only stare in shock.

He...smiled...!?

"Guys! We're leaving!" Genis shouted.

"Aren't you coming?" Kratos asked as he turned to leave.

"H- Huh? Y- Yeah- Oh! I almost forgot!" Lloyd smiled. "Since I didn't apologize for breaking it, I'll be more than happy to fix your locket's chain! If

you want work done in detail you can just-"

Kratos was glaring at him.

"I- I won't peek! I swear!" he said. "I mean...your wife would be angry if you broke it, right?"

With that he ran off with his friends and left Kratos to follow them in the back, lost in his own thoughts.

A few months passed since that day, and Lloyd found himself once more with the spikey-haired enigma accompanying them, this time not

exactly as their friend. The plan to revive the giant tree had back-fired and the world was in turmoil, the only chance was to infiltrate the Iselia

ranch in hopes of shutting down the mana reactor before they could shoot the cannon, Thor's Hammer. They had remained isolated from

Kratos, and though Lloyd would not admit it he actually felt...better, with him there. It was like old times, before all of this mess with Cruxis had

happened, Kratos was even wearing his old purple clothes, not the white garb that had identified him as their enemy in the past few months...

The battles had not changed that much either.

"Bud! Heads up!"

Once again Lloyd found himself almost at the mercy of an opponent, and yet again Kratos pushed him from harm's way and took the blow

himself before slicing the offender in two.

"...Didn't I tell you to be careful?" Kratos asked, looking over at Lloyd.

"I-..." Lloyd merely glared, the Seraph looking away.

"Here come more," he said, racing into battle once again.

Lloyd picked up his swords and went to follow when he noticed something on the floor. The...locket? His eyes widened when he looked at

Kratos fighting and knew the angel had yet to realize he had lost it a second time. The locket...Kratos said his family was killed by the Desians,

before...was that a lie? If he was in Cruxis, then... Before he thought it through he scooped up the locked and shoved it into his pocket, making

sure he would not lose it before heading into the fight as well. Himself, Kratos, Zelos and Raine had headed in to face Forcystus as the rest of

the group went to free the captives. They had finished the battle and started in further when Kratos stopped suddenly, what was barely

recognizable as panic in his face.

"Where..?" he whispered.

The man stopped and looked around frantically under the impression he was calm, scanning desperately for any sign of his most treasured

material possession. The others took notice.

"Yo, angel-dude," Zelos said, "what's wrong?"

"...Did any of you see me drop something?" he asked, his voice barely its usual monotone.

"Drop something?" Raine asked.

"Like what?" Zelos asked.

"..." the man looked away.

Where was it? He had just had it, it wasn't laying anywhere around... Where could it have gone?

"We need to hurry," Raine said, "otherwise it may be too late."

Yes. Yes they had to hurry, he knew that, but...but...

"Whatever you dropped, it can't be THAT important now let's go! We can look for it later!" Zelos said.

The Seraph almost snarled before Lloyd cut in.

"Y- Yeah! We need to hurry! We can look for it later, we don't have time!"

Kratos forced himself to agree and run off with the rest of them, but he could not help the dreadful feeling that he had failed his family yet

again, even if it was something as simple as a locket. The rest of the day was anything but normal, of course, what with the giant tree being

contained, Colette's illness being discovered and the like, but once Kratos left Lloyd's house the teen couldn't help but feel like the man was

inwardly preoccupied and maybe even panicked, guilt eating up inside the dual swordsman. ...Why should he care? That man had put him-

everyone- through so much pain! Even though he did just give them advice on how to save Colette, but.... but...

"Lloyd? What's wrong?" Colette asked.

"...Confession time," Lloyd sighed, "...Colette I...kind of did something bad."

"Like what?" the blond bit her lip, concerned.

"...Do you remember that one time after the water seal? Kratos lost his locket during a fight?"

"Yes...?" Colette said slowly.

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Genis said.

Raine put two and two together.

"Lloyd, you didn't..." Raine whispered in an uneasy apprehension.

Lloyd sighed and took Kratos' locket from his pocket, showing it to all of them. Colette covered her hands with her mouth and Raine held an

expression of disappointment as the others began to question what it was that had happened before. Upon learning that the locket belonged

to Kratos, certain people instantly decided that it was time to take a peek. Certain people, of course, being Zelos.

"Let's look inside!" he said.

"But- but-" Colette stammered.

"He's our enemy, who cares?!" Zelos shouted. "Why else did Lloyd snatch it if we're not going to look at it?!"

True, he had taken it to get revenge in a sense...but after the conversation he had just had with Kratos, he could not bring himself to look

inside, now. Outside, Kratos had told him something that had really been...something kind. Kratos told Lloyd how he had grown up, how he

was strong to be able to sympathize for the ones he despised, to look through his own eyes, to look at everything with an open heart...

And here he was holding his locket.

"..I'll be right back, guys," Lloyd said, heading for the door.

"W- What? Where are you-?"

"I'll be back, okay? I'm just going for a walk," Lloyd muttered absentmindedly.

"Hey! Aren't we going to look at it at all!?" Zelos asked.

Lloyd ignored him and left.

"Hey!"

"...Hm..." Raine bit her lip.

He went back to the Ranch. If he had the chance to find Kratos anywhere right now, it would be here...if his feeling was right. The teen ran into

the abandoned ranch, knowing he probably should not have done so on his own, but he had to return the locket. He went back to the hallway

where he had taken the object and sure enough, Kratos was there. The Seraph was searching in almost a frenzy, calm and quiet, but he was

definitely on edge a bit.

"...Kratos-"

The Seraph had his sword at Lloyd's neck.

"Agh-!"

"Lloyd..." Kratos sighed deeply, "...I told you not to approach me from behind..."

"Are you....looking for-?"

"It's none of your concern, what are you doing here anyway?" Kratos asked. "There may still be some left-over Desians, it is dangerous to

come all by yourself, even you should know that."

"I um...."

Lloyd shuffled his feet and then sighed deeply before holding out his arm to Kratos, showing him the locket laying in his palm. Kratos stared at

it in a numb silence before he spoke.

"You found it?" he asked.

"...Actually I...stole it," Lloyd admitted, his head hung low, "I saw you drop it- and I- I was still mad at you about everything and I just took it,

because you didn't-...I'm sorry. I swear, I didn't look inside, so just take it-"

Kratos yanked Lloyd aside as an arrow went flying by where the teen's head would have been. Both males instantly drew their swords at the

oncoming squad of Desians who had yet to leave, the whole group apparently was not having a very good day...seeing as they captives had

been freed, Forcystus had been killed, etcetera... Regardless, they came. In the chaos Lloyd dropped the locket and it lay forgotten on the floor

until one Desian stepped on it, breaking the hinges and revealing the inner contents before the foe was vanquished.

Once again Lloyd saw the object on the floor, but this time he saw the picture.

A brunette woman with shoulder length hair, cooing over a baby boy that she and Kratos held in their arms. Kratos approached Lloyd as the

last Desian fell, noticing at once that Lloyd had seen the contents.

"..."

"...Wh-? AH!!" Lloyd jumped backwards. "I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean-!"

Kratos said nothing but slowly picked up the broken object, his eyes misted as he did so.

"...I..." Lloyd trailed.

There was a long moment of complete quiet before Lloyd found his courage to speak.

"Give it to me," he said.

"What?" Kratos said instantly.

"I said I'd fix it once, but I never did, so I'll fix it now," Lloyd said with determination, "I...it's my fault it got broken, again, and I saw the

inside...I owe it to you to fix it. So...so let me fix it."

"...You really don't realize it, do you?" Kratos murmured softly.

"W- What?" Lloyd blinked.

Kratos remained silent before slowly handing the mangled locket to Lloyd.

"Please...if you would," Kratos nodded softly.

Lloyd looked at him a minute before nodding.

"Y- Yes! Right away! I'll get started on it right-"

"We should probably leave the ranch, first," Kratos said.

"O- Oh, yeah," the brunette chuckled sheepishly.

The angel said nothing as he looked at the boy and then headed off with him to the exit. Once outside the ranch Lloyd situated himself to sit on

a fallen log outside, much like Kratos had done previously. When the Seraph began to inquire what Lloyd was doing the teen spoke up.

"It shouldn't take me more than a couple of hours," he said, "and it's not dark yet, so I can stay right here and-"

"You should go back to your house and fix it, it's safer," Kratos said, "I-"

"Then how will I get it back to you?" Lloyd asked. "Once they find out I came here, there's no way they'll let me come back, and if I fix it there

the next time we see each other....well, it probably won't be a very good time to hand something like this to you..."

"...In that case we should leave this area," Kratos stated, "they will came after you if you take too long."

"Hm...yeah, that could be trouble-"

"Then just go back and fix it," Kratos said again, "I...I'll obtain it somehow."

Lloyd looked at him and then shook his head.

"No," he said, "I'm going to get this done now and give it back to you."

Kratos sighed, bringing his hand to his face as his did so.

"Very well then, if you are persistent with this let us go somewhere else," he said as he started to leave.

"Okay," Lloyd nodded, following after him.

Kratos stopped and shook his head.

"W- What is it?" Lloyd asked.

"You're going to easily walk off somewhere with your enemy?" Kratos sighed. "You are far too trusting for your own good."

Lloyd huffed, his eyes narrowed before he stood up straight and spoke.

"I already said, I don't want to think of you as an enemy," Lloyd said, "...and...and I can't, think of you as an..."

"Why?" Kratos asked.

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked his brown eyes.

The man hesitated a moment before he continued.

"Why is it you do not wish for me to be your enemy?" he asked.

Lloyd looked at him before looking down at the mangled locket, at the intact picture of the man before him with a smiling woman holding a

baby. How could someone who had had this...be the kind of person he thought Kratos was? He thought differently now, how could someone

with that be someone he could not trust? That and...his eyes, didn't feel...threatening, they didn't feel like the eyes of an enemy. His eyes

felt...warm, comforting even, and he could never quite understand why it was he felt so safe when Kratos was alone...

"...I don't know," Lloyd said, "...I don't know."

Kratos turned away from him.

"Did you want to leave for home, or go to another location?"

"Let's go somewhere else," Lloyd said.

"It is not wise to venture off with your enemy," Kratos said without looking back.

"I trust you," Lloyd said.

The angel stopped dead in his tracks, pausing a moment before he kept walking. Lloyd followed after him and in a matter of minutes they were

on a plain somewhere between the forest and Iselia, Lloyd settling down on the ground as Kratos stood a ways away.

"This shouldn't take me more than an hour and a half," Lloyd said after inspecting the locket, "so...um...could you just hang around for that

long? I mean, I know it's kind of boring but-"

"I'll prepare something," Kratos said.

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked.

"It's past lunch, you must be hungry," Kratos stated plainly.

"Oh yeah..." Lloyd blinked. "Okay then, thanks."

Kratos said nothing as he drew some supplies from his pack and began to make a fire in order to prepare...something.

"Are you making beef stew?" Lloyd blinked, noting the ingredients.

"I was planning to," Kratos stated calmly, "that is your favorite, is it not?"

Lloyd flinched, surprised. Kratos knew that?

"You mentioned it once, after going through Ossa Trail," he explained.

"O- Oh- wait, so why are you-?"

"I had the ingredients," Kratos said plainly, "that's all."

Silence fell again while both males went about their tasks. Lloyd was fidgeting with the locket, attempting to fix it so that it was better than

new, but that picture kept drawing his focus...

"Were they..." Lloyd started.

"Hm?" Kratos looked up.

"...Were they really killed by Desians?" he asked.

"...What makes you ask that question?" Kratos said coolly, his eyes narrowed.

"It's just, if you're in Cruxis...why would the Desians hurt them?" Lloyd asked.

Kratos closed his eyes and leaned back a bit, his head lowered.

"...Years ago, I deserted Cruxis and met my wife," he stated, "I broke her out of the ranch she was imprisoned in and we ran off together. A

few years later we had a child-"

"She was in a ranch?" Lloyd asked.

Kratos nodded without any other trace of emotion.

"I tried to keep her away from Cruxis, to keep her safe," Kratos whispered, "her and our son, but in the end... Kvar caught us, my wife had

been at his ranch when I helped her escape."

"That's why he knew you!" Lloyd gasped. "You mean...your wife and my mom were in the same ranch?!"

Ignoring the urge to laugh sardonically, Kratos continued on.

"Yes," he stated, "Kvar caught us...and..."

"So Desians killed your family, just like they killed mine..." Lloyd murmured, "but..."

The teen looked up and glared death at Kratos, unable to suppress the fury in his eyes.

"You- You just went back to Cruxis after that?! How- how could you do that, when your family-?! How could you go back to work for them when

they destroyed everything you had?!"

He had gotten to his feet at some point, he really couldn't remember when, but he growled down at Kratos as he silently fed the fire and

averted his gaze from the brunette.

"Answer me, Kratos!" Lloyd snapped. "How could you-!?"

"My wife died," Kratos stated, "and I lost my son...I thought I had nothing to live for."

"But- but...but you helped us today, didn't you?" Lloyd asked a bit more softly as his frowned. "So...you do have something to live for, don't

you? Otherwise you wouldn't have cared..."

Kratos was surprised at Lloyd's logic. It was true, quite true, but for Lloyd to have seen through him like that was a bit unnerving. He relented

in a sigh before turning to face Lloyd.

"I do have something to live for," he said slowly, his eyes glazed.

"You do! See?" Lloyd said. "So why are you-?"

"My son," he said quietly.

"Your...your...son...?" Lloyd drew back, his eyes wide. "But I thought your son-"

"The reason I am still in Cruxis is because I discovered my son was alive," Kratos admitted, "and to protect him, I must remain in Cruxis until I

complete what it is I have to do."

"Your son's alive...?" Lloyd repeated numbly. "So...you're being forced into this?"

The Seraph closed his eyes and looked away.

"You could say that, I suppose," he said.

"That Yggdrasill bastard has your son?!" Lloyd cried, shocked.

Kratos shook his head.

"No, but in order to protect my son I must remain with Cruxis...it's complicated."

Lloyd frowned deeply as Kratos went about preparing the meal. His son was alive, he was doing this for his son...so there was a reason Kratos

had been doing what he had. There was a reason he had betrayed them and done everything did, he was trying to protect his son. The boy

looked at the picture of the sleeping baby and closed his eyes before looking up with determination.

"Then I'll help you," he said.

"Pardon?" Kratos asked as he looked up.

"I'll help you," Lloyd said again, "I'll do whatever I can to help protect your son and get you free from Cruxis."

Kratos could say nothing and responded only by staring sadly at the boy.

"W...What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Lloyd asked.

"Lloyd..." he shook his head, "nevermind. The only way you could help with that is to be as strong as you can to protect yourself, do you

understand? That's the only way you could help."

"How will that help-?" Lloyd started.

"Please, I do not wish to discuss this further."

Though Lloyd wanted to keep asking, he decided that maybe it wouldn't help at the moment. That and Kratos seemed a little sad now... He

sighed and went back to working on the locket. A couple of hours passed when Lloyd finally presented Kratos with the finished work.

"Is this good?" he asked.

"..." Kratos smiled softly.

It looked almost as new as when he had first purchased it for Anna, it had been her treasured birthday present, and she had given it to him

but days before...

"Thank you," Kratos said as he took it.

"...Heh," Lloyd grinned, "I'm glad I did a good job."

"...Lloyd," Kratos said.

"Hm? What is it?" he asked as he locked eyes with him.

Kratos hesitated, unable to decipher quite what it was he felt. What was it? Love? Concern? Fear? Happiness? Sadness? He didn't know what

it was, but slowly he handed it back to Lloyd.

"W- What? What's wrong? Is something wrong with it-?" Lloyd stammered, worried.

"No," Kratos shook his head, "I want you to have it."

"You want me to-? What?! Why do you want me to-!?" Lloyd gasped, startled.

Kratos took Lloyd's hand and placed the locket in his palm before closing the red-clad fingers over it with his own. Lloyd looked at him in

confusion as the man locked eyes with him one more time.

"They took my wife from both my son and myself," Kratos stated, "they took Anna from both me...and you."

Lloyd's eyes widened to the point he was afraid they would fall from his sockets.

"W- What?! What are you-?!"

"Check under the picture," he said.

While the teen was still stunned Kratos put a hand on his head and feathered his hair a bit.

"Don't die Lloyd," he whispered before he disappeared in a whirl of light of feathers.

Lloyd stared there in shock before he hurriedly took the portrait and carefully- but still quickly- slipped it out and then looked on the back. He

almost fell to his knees as he lost the strength in his knees as he read the back. It had the date of the year some sixteen previously, and under

with was a brief description in what he recognized as Kratos' writing:

_You, Lloyd and I, taken on Lloyd's first birthday. I hope you like it, Anna..._

No...it was impossible.

'They took Anna from both me and you...'

'I found out my son was alive'

'I must be in Cruxis to protect him'

'The only way you can help protect him is to be strong enough to protect yourself'

'Don't die Lloyd...'

And Yuan. Yuan...and Pronyma, they both said they saw the resemblance- and Kratos, Kvar said that about his mom and Kratos got mad,

Kratos' wife had been from the Asgard Ranch, his mom had been from the Asgard ranch.

'Don't die Lloyd...'

Then lastly he remembered his own words:

'I don't know if my real dad is alive or not, but if he thought about me like that I'd be really happy!'

He fell onto his knees, his eyes wide and staring at the picture of Kratos'- of HIS family.

"...Dad..." he whispered, choking on his own saliva.

**n.n Sklee, I say, sklee. :D I had fun with that! Did you guys like?n.n Hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**Review, if you want. n.n **


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